India Poised to Commission 3rd SSBN "INS Aridhaman" in Next 6 Months as Trials Underway

NEW DELHI: India is set to further enhance its naval capabilities and nuclear deterrence with the upcoming commissioning of its third nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN), INS Aridhaman. This development follows closely on the heels of the formal induction of the second SSBN, INS Arighat, into the Strategic Forces Command at Visakhapatnam.

INS Aridhaman, currently undergoing trials, is expected to be commissioned early next year. Slightly larger than its predecessors, INS Arihant and INS Arighat, it will be equipped to carry a greater number of long-range nuclear-tipped missiles, further solidifying India's sea-based nuclear triad.

Notably, INS Arighat, recently inducted into the Strategic Forces Command, is also capable of carrying K-4 missiles with a strike range of over 3,000 km, a significant upgrade from INS Arihant's 750-km range K-15 missiles. This enhanced capability is crucial for maintaining credible strategic deterrence amidst the ongoing military standoff with China. SSBNs, capable of remaining submerged for extended periods, are considered the most secure and survivable platforms for second-strike capabilities, thus deterring potential adversaries from launching a surprise first strike.

The commissioning of INS Arighat, with a 6,000-tonne displacement and four silos for vertical missile launch, was a significant event attended by key figures including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, and DRDO chief Samir Kamat. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh highlighted the role of INS Arighat in strengthening India's nuclear triad, enhancing deterrence, and establishing strategic balance and peace in the region.

Indigenous technological improvements on INS Arighat make it notably more advanced than its predecessor, INS Arihant, which became fully operational in 2018. The two SSBNs, along with the upcoming INS Aridhaman and the fourth under-construction SSBN, will significantly enhance India's capability to deter potential adversaries and safeguard national interests.

India's ambitious plans for its naval capabilities don't stop there. It's also working on a plan to build larger 13,500-tonne SSBNs and is awaiting final approval for a project to indigenously construct two 6,000-tonne 'hunter-killer' SSNs. These advancements underscore India's commitment to strengthening its naval power and maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent in a complex geopolitical environment.

 

[R. Singh]

India should ink deal with France to fit Pump jet proper in our SSBNs and upcoming SSNs

 

[makima23]

India should ink deal with France to fit Pump jet proper in our SSBNs and upcoming SSNs

Screw Propeller could be as stealthy as Pumpjet. The thing is SSBNs move slowly most of the time. Pumpjets are definitive features of Fast Attack SSNs where they go fast. Afterall even the Ohio Class and Delta Class are Screw and not Pumpjets. Ofcourse their next generations gonna have pumpjets but doesn't mean Screw is archaic.

 

[NSR]

Wonderful to know that INS Aridhamman with K5 SLBMs and with a range of 5000+ kms is going for extended sea trials.
I think K5 range is classified and it can go up to 7500+ kms.
It would surely provide India with a sure fire Nuclear Triad against china.

Congratulations and Way to go Indian Navy and GoI and all entities involved in getting such a critical system for Indian Nuclear Triad.

 

[Sudha]

If it is a "secret" base which is manufacturing these subs, then how come there are sats images? 🤣 Conclusion : not secret base.

 

[op gupta]

"Once a Folly is always a Folly" - it will never become sanity through your number of actions; India commited a Blunder when vajpayee ordered to conduct 5 So-called nuclear test on the "Whimsical" pretext that it would increase India's prestige and security but truly speaking India has become more Vulnerable by giving pakistan an opportunity to go nuclear besides these tests instead of increasing prestige raises more suspicion regarding India's hidden agenda ( if India really wanted to go nuclear then they should have conducted all the nuclear tests in 1974 when pak was at nuclear reactor stage) but after the tests the need for nuclear triad then construction of ssbn then ssn India is continuously wasting its resources on these redundant things & feeling haughty knowing fully well India's people will never be fully secure.

 

[Rational Guy]

Wonderful to know that INS Aridhamman with K5 SLBMs and with a range of 5000+ kms is going for extended sea trials.
I think K5 range is classified and it can go up to 7500+ kms.
It would surely provide India with a sure fire Nuclear Triad against china.

Congratulations and Way to go Indian Navy and GoI and all entities involved in getting such a critical system for Indian Nuclear Triad.

K5 can probably reach close to 10000 km even if a very light warhead is incorporated. 5000 km is for full load only I believe.

 

[NSR]

K5 can probably reach close to 10000 km even if a very light warhead is incorporated. 5000 km is for full load only I believe.

Man, That is even better as we can reach all of chinese ccp and pla generals hideouts far and beyond.

 

[Narayanan K]

Extremely happy to learn about the proposed launch of 2 more nuclear submarines.We must keep up the pace and have a nuclear deterrent in the sea too.The Navy must ensure optimal training of the crew to eliminate the sad and embarrassing sinking of a nuclear submarine in 2016.Sabotage is another risk factor which must be guarded against.

 

[Aravind Raveendran]

"Once a Folly is always a Folly" - it will never become sanity through your number of actions; India commited a Blunder when vajpayee ordered to conduct 5 So-called nuclear test on the "Whimsical" pretext that it would increase India's prestige and security but truly speaking India has become more Vulnerable by giving pakistan an opportunity to go nuclear besides these tests instead of increasing prestige raises more suspicion regarding India's hidden agenda ( if India really wanted to go nuclear then they should have conducted all the nuclear tests in 1974 when pak was at nuclear reactor stage) but after the tests the need for nuclear triad then construction of ssbn then ssn India is continuously wasting its resources on these redundant things & feeling haughty knowing fully well India's people will never be fully secure.

Even if u are against India , atleast make a valid argument or statement.
India was not seeking prestige during Vajpayee regime ,this was and is the deterrence that unhinges the evil panda empire and his concubine napak.
Should have conducted tests in 1974 , well that would have been nice but Indira didnt feel so ( there were other reasons too ) but I would have to be an indian to know that .

 

[Sandeep]

"Once a Folly is always a Folly" - it will never become sanity through your number of actions; India commited a Blunder when vajpayee ordered to conduct 5 So-called nuclear test on the "Whimsical" pretext that it would increase India's prestige and security but truly speaking India has become more Vulnerable by giving pakistan an opportunity to go nuclear besides these tests instead of increasing prestige raises more suspicion regarding India's hidden agenda ( if India really wanted to go nuclear then they should have conducted all the nuclear tests in 1974 when pak was at nuclear reactor stage) but after the tests the need for nuclear triad then construction of ssbn then ssn India is continuously wasting its resources on these redundant things & feeling haughty knowing fully well India's people will never be fully secure.

You’re quite naive and inexperienced if you believe that. Pakistan was also trying to develop nuclear weapons since the country was born in 1947. Every major country in Asia was racing towards it. Also we didn’t create a blunder by conducting our first nuclear tests in 1998 either because we needed to show and prove to the world that India had the knowledge, experience and education to design and develop our nuclear missiles. China was already increasing its nuclear weapons and stockpiles and without showing our weapons capabilities then we would have been under a continuous and regular amount of indirect, non contact, military pressure and regular skirmishes which would have only increased until they would have occupied even larger amount of our land that was lost by the corrupt jihadi party who lied to the country for decades.

The need for a nuclear triad was always necessary to ensure our country’s survival incase someone nuked us first. Developing nuclear submarines with nuclear weapons allows us to hit back incase some ridiculous country hit us first.

We now need to increase the number of nuclear submarines we manufacture, increase the amount of nuclear missiles it can carry and we need to increase the missiles range so we can launch an attack from safety. We also need to increase the size of our 6000T arihant submarine into the 12000T S5 class nuclear ballistic submarines which can hold even more longer range missiles of at least 10000+km range but they have to be MIRV capable to ensure our missile reaches the target and make it difficult to intercept.

We also need to manufacture our nuclear attack submarines which should be easier and to develop as we can use a lot of the technology that we developed for the Arihant submarines but we will need a much powerful engine like the 190MW that we are developing which will give it the speed and power that’s needed.

 

[Sandeep]

It’s great news that the next two variant of the Arihant class submarine will be manufactured over the next 3 years and enter service. With these two submarines we can hold more and longer range missiles which is crucial to launch an attack from a safe distance and especially against China.

We now need to focus and develop the 12000T S5 class submarine which are essential against China who have a large amount of submarines and ships which might be able to detect our submarines from a long distance from their country. With that submarine we can hold large amounts of missiles but with a longer range of at least 10000+KM but also be MIRV capable. This will increase the damage we can do but also make it ever harder to intercept at the terminal stage. If we launched a heavy saturated attack with MIRV capable missiles then we could easily destroy the Chinese capital city and other cities if we wanted.

 

[Tailless Baboon]

Any guesses for the possible name of S4?
The satellite imagery has spotted 2 submarines,one at a "secret" base at Vishakhapattanam and second,at Cochin.
Couldn't we conceal them?

 

[Baiju Bhaskaran]

We should have atleast nineteen nuclear submarines to protect our vast coastline. Step in the right direction.

 

[Amit Ray]

Any guesses for the possible name of S4?
The satellite imagery has spotted 2 submarines,one at a "secret" base at Vishakhapattanam and second,at Cochin.
Couldn't we conceal them?

What's the necessity??

 

[Tailless Baboon]

What's the necessity??

Why not develop some measures to build and launch them in secrecy?
In case,satellites can see them ,they aren't in any secret location at all.